TWiV 746: Encephalitis viruses dine on caveolae

Team TWiV explains how alphaviruses like Western equine encephalitis virus cross into the brain from capillaries by caveolin-mediated transcytosis, and reveal scientists’ incentives and attitudes towards public communication.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks

Dickson – NASA ingenuity helicopter ride
Brianne – Vaccine Efficacy Animation
Kathy – Airglow over the Azores
Vincent – Gisaid

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 745: Gorilla COVID with Nadine Lamberski

Nadine Lamberski joins TWiV to discuss an outbreak of COVID-19 among gorillas at the San Diego Zoo, and the use of a spike protein-based vaccine to immunize the animals.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Nadine Lamberski

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Weekly Picks 1:37:12

Brianne – The Dream Vaccine
Alan – Taking vaccines to Smith Island
Kathy – Daily Overviews Subscribe Tulips
Vincent – Nextstrain

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 744: COVID-19 clinical update #58 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #58, Daniel Griffin provides the latest update on the J&J vaccine pause, healthcare worker deaths, children and COVID, physical inactivity associated with higher risk, using monoclonal antibodies for prophylaxis, and shows us how to properly wear a face mask.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 743: Shape-shifting viruses

The TWiVsters explain how the shape of pleomorphic virus particles – spherical or filamentous – determines the probability of virus attachment and fusion, and resistance to selective pressure such as antibodies that block cell entry.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

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Weekly Picks 1:44:48

Dickson – A tiny particle’s wobble could upend the laws of physics
Rich – COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2: Viruses, Vaccines & Variants Made Easy
Amy – Vaccine Anthems
Vincent – DarkNet Diaries Ep. 86

Listener Picks

Steve – Cover Your Freakin’ Face

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 742: De-fusing COVID-19

TWiV reviews a drug screen for inhibitors of syncytium formation, the fusing of cells caused by SARS-CoV-2, which reveals that the process is regulated by a calcium-activated ion channel and scramblase that is inhibited by the anti-parasite drug Niclosamide.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks 1:33:41

Brianne – COVID-19: a disaster five years in the making
Alan – The Tyranny of Merit
Rich – Racism Makes Me Question Everything. I Got the Vaccine Anyway
Kathy – The Transcontinental Burrito Tunnel
Vincent – Trudy Rey’s YouTube Channel

Listener Picks

Jeff – Rebecca Lee Smith on Left Right and Center
Ryan – Perfect Strangers (clip)

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiV 741: COVID-19 clinical update #57 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #57, Daniel Griffin covers children and MIS-C, school opening plans, transmission event with masks, fomite transmission, diagnostic test performance, AZ vaccine and blood clots, and long COVID and the effect of vaccines.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 740: Complementation will get you everywhere

The Guardians of the TWiV-o-verse discuss the process of codon deoptimization for the production of experimental infectious attenuated viral vaccines, and how a respiratory syncytial virus with 619 base changes was rescued by genomes with very large internal deletions.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Weekly Picks 1:20:38

Dickson – Let us now praise tiny ants
Brianne – Small-school science
Rich – Smallpox ‘virus squads’ and the mandatory vaccinations upheld by the Supreme Court
Kathy – The Transcontinental Burrito Tunnel
Vincent – Glass music by Robert Tiso

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 739: COVID-19 convalescent plasma with Arturo Casadevall

Arturo Casadevall joins TWiV to discuss the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19, including a history of the process, how plasma is prepared and tested, why it is difficult to conduct randomized clinical trials, how this treatment has fared and his hopes for the future.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Arturo Casadevall

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Weekly Picks 1:42:35

Brianne – The Ocean’s Youngest Monsters Are Ready for Glamour Shots
Alan – 7 Billion Humans
Rich – 15 Fascinating Animal X-Rays From the Oregon Zoo
Vincent – Respiratory pathogen trends

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 738: COVID-19 clinical update #56 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

In COVID-19 clinical update #56, Daniel Griffin notes increasing hospitalization in children and young adults, Pfizer vaccine efficacy results in 12-15 year olds, rapid self administered nucleic acid and antigen tests, mRNA vaccine efficacy in real world conditions, and improvement of long COVID after vaccination.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 738 (21 MB .mp3, 35 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV 737: SARS-CoV-2 in NYC wastewater

John, Monica, and Davida join TWiV to discuss development of a method to detect SARS-CoV-2 in raw sewage from all 14 of New York City’s treatment plants, and its use to determine the presence of the genome throughout the pandemic and detection of genome mutations from variants of concern.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: John Dennehy, Davida Smyth, and Monica Trujillo

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Weekly Picks 1:45:00

Dickson – 250,000 Dominoes
Brianne – Using RT-PCR in COVID-19 Testing
Rich – Beaded Lacewings Can Take Down Six Termites With A Single Fart
Kathy – Tracking the COVID code
Vincent – Administering vaccines to adults

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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